Speeches

It's a great pleasure and honor to be with you here today. GPPI is a world-class institution. And I am thrilled to be able to celebrate your success and share a few words with you as you earn your degrees and embark on the next stage of the journeys of the Class of 2013.

I'm going to talk at some length today about some of the current controversies over standardized testing and the purposes of assessment. But I want to preface those remarks by saying how much I value compelling education research. The truth is that today educators and policymakers still have a large unmet need for relevant research.

Secretary Sebelius has been a great advocate for children and a fantastic partner with ED in our work together on early learning. I can't thank her enough for stepping up to do the right thing for children.

It's good to be back at the release of NIEER's annual state of preschool yearbook--though to be frank, I wish this year's analysis had more good news to report.

It's a pleasure to be here and to participate in the launch of the state's new Early Childhood strategic plan

My friend Governor Markell has been an amazing partner and an extraordinary leader for children in Delaware. And Delaware is helping lead the nation where we need to go through its Race to the Top program and its Race to the Top-Early Learning challenge reforms.

Greetings to Senators Howard Baker and Nancy Kassebaum Baker. And to Dr. Cheek and other education leaders from around the state, thank you for having me here today.

I'm honored to be a part of the Distinguished Baker Lecture series. And I am thrilled to have this opportunity to talk about how Tennessee is helping to lead the nation to where we need to go in education.